Kathmandu: US President Joe Biden launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) with a dozen initial partners. These countries include India, Australia, Japan, Brunei, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Together, these countries represent 40% of world GDP.
IPEF is aimed at strengthening ties in this critical Indo-Pacific region to define the coming decades for technological innovation and the global economy. The Framework will create a stronger, fairer, and more resilient economy for families, workers, and businesses in the United States and in the Indo-Pacific region.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Biden said they are writing the new rules for the 21-century economy that will help their economies grow faster and fairer.
Endorsing the initiative, Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked Mr Biden for the initiative and said that the IPEF is a declaration of our collective will’ to make the region an engine of global economic growth. He expressed his commitment to work with all Indo-Pacific countries for an inclusive and flexible IPEF. Mr Modi also declared that the foundation of resilient supply chains, a major focus area for the Framework that will apparently provide an alternative to China’s approach to critical’ economic issues, must be 3Ts – trust, transparency, and timeliness.
